Alan Pardew gave credit to his opponent's defence as 10-man Colchester stood firm against a barrage of Southampton chances…

The visitors looked set for a difficult afternoon when Kemal Izzet was dismissed in the 35th minute, but they managed to hold on for a point as the hosts failed to hit the target.

"It's disappointing for the guys, because I think we did enough to win this one," he said, "at least in terms of the chances we created and the pressure we put on them.

"The chances came thick and fast, but nothing really broke for us today and I'm desperately sorry for the players that they haven't got the win that they deserved.

"We created enough chances today to win two games, but sadly it wasn't to be."

The U's were determined to impress new manager Aidy Boothroyd and put in a steely display that more that made up for their numerical disadvantage.

"You have to give credit to Colchester because they had to defend so much," Pardew continued. "They put their body in the way and defended superbly.

"I thought we lacked a real athletic threat, and a little bit more pace might have unsettled them. Papa Waigo has been brought in to do that, and Saganowski is away with Poland, so it was disappointing that they weren't available today."

New loan signing Papa Waigo N'Diaye was introduced to the crowd before kick-off but was forced to sit and watch from the stands as his international clearance was not received in time from the Italian F.A.

"If either Papa or Saganowski was available today I think we would probably have won," Pardew said.

"We were a little bit limited up front, and you want more striking options, even if they're coming off the bench.

"We're having to be patient with Papa's situation because we're in the hands of the Italian F.A. They seem to have all the paperwork but don't seem to want to stamp it.

"When he does come in though, he'll create a bit of threat in behind and will take people on with genuine pace.

"We're still in the early days of building this team though, so we've just got to stay patient and strong and it will come."